Jimmy Hill turned me into a lifelong Coventry City fan
So the statue of Jimmy Hill looks set to be in place for the start of next season and I for one look forward to seeing it in all it's glory.
Jimmy's health isn't too good at the moment but it would be nice if the great man himself will get to see it in all it's glory, because he deserves this accolade for all he did for our club.
I remember when he took over as manager back in the sixties, I was a schoolboy and had just started going to Highfield Road with my late father, with all us kids down at the front of the Spion Kop end of the ground with the parents looking down on us from up high on the terraces.
He changed everything about the club in his first season in charge, bringing in lots of new players, a new kit so we now became the Sky Blues, a new club song, and lots of fresh and innovative ideas never seen before at the football club.
I do recall my dad saying at the time that he thought he was a bit flash for his liking, and a lot of die-hard supporters said they thought it was all just a gimmick, and as we know us Coventrians can be a hard lot to please.
But all that cynicism changed when we couldn't stop winning games and all Jimmy's ideas came to fruition, and even my stick-in-the-mud dad had to admit that the bearded one was the best thing to have happened to his beloved club.
As we get to see now and again at the Ricoh when the club are playing well and they play a big club the fans do turn up for the games, but as a lad all I knew was being packed in like a sardine surrounded by a mass of Sky Blue and seeing the likes of Hudson, Rees, Humphries, and Curtis doing the business week in and week out.
Jimmy was a breath of fresh air and not just for the football club, but for the whole city of Coventry he made people sit up and take notice.
Yes he was larger than life and he did have the touch of the showbiz about him, but us fans didn't care less about all that because to us he was a winner, we even enjoyed all the razzmatazz because we were winning games and promotion.
So he put us on the football map and we went from being just an ordinary third division outfit, to a first division team, yes it's been a long rollercoaster ride with lot's of twists and turns along the way, but my love of the club is down to Jimmy Hill so I give thanks to him for that.
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Great article, no more than Jimmy deserves.
Thanks for your comments. I hope I have done Jimmy justice, because to me he really did put Coventry city on the football map,he turned us into an exciting side,he had so many ideas at the time a lot of so called football experts thought he was a bit mad !How can he turn a small club like Coventry City into a top flight team ? Well he did, and as they say the rest is history.
Once again I say a mighty thanks to the great man,he deserves it in my book.
Nice article Kevin, I have been a lifelong supporter of city even from this locality in the USA/Seattle. I truly hope to see the statue in person some day, and as you say their could'nt be a better way of saying thankyou to the man for all he did for the club.
Glad you liked the article Frank,like me you are a life long supporter,and you will have enjoyed the Jimmy Hill era also.
What great days they were, we were buzzing all the time weren't we ?
And wouldn't we love for those times to return !
Still we keep our support going,even it seems from the States,nice one Frank.